The method includes filling a case through a fill-hole in a cover of a case. The case is configured to hold an electrode assembly having at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode. The method also includes plugging the fill-hole with a plug. The plug includes a terminal for the battery.
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1. A method of assembling a battery, comprising:
filling a case through a fill-hole in a cover of a case, the case being configured to hold an electrode assembly having at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode; and
plugging the fill-hole with a plug having a terminal extending from a top of a plug region,
the fill-hole being plugged such that the plug region extends across the fill-hole and is positioned between an interior of the case and the terminal.
12. A battery comprising:
a cover attached to a case configured to hold an electrode assembly having at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode; and
a plug positioned in a fill-hole in the cover, the fill-hole configured such that the case can be filled with an electrolyte through the fill-hole, the plug having a terminal extending from a top of a plug region, the plug region extending across the fill-hole and being positioned between an interior of the case and the terminal.
2. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
providing electrical communication between the electrode assembly and the case, the case being in electrical communication with the cover, and plugging the fill-hole with the plug provides electrical communication between the cover and the terminal.
10. The method of
providing electrical communication between a second terminal and the tab.
11. The method of
13. The battery of
15. The battery of
16. The battery of
17. The battery of
20. The battery of
one electrode member of the positive electrode and the negative electrode includes a tab extending from an arm, and further comprising:
a second terminal in electrical communication with the tab.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/223,039, filed on Aug. 15, 2002, entitled “Electric Battery Assembly and Method of Manufacture,” now U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,881, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/347,940 filed Oct. 18, 2001, each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
The invention relates generally to an electrical storage battery, and more particularly to an assembly and a method of manufacture for an electrical storage battery expected to find use in conjunction with an implantable medical device, but which may also find use in other applications.
Electrical storage batteries are now in use in a wide range of applications. This range of applications is expected to increase in the future as storage battery technology continues to improve. As improved battery technology allows battery use in more, and more demanding, applications, the requirements imposed on the batteries' physical construction increases as well.
For example, new battery technologies have yielded small and lightweight batteries with long storage lives and high energy output capabilities. This has allowed the use of batteries in new applications such as permanently implantable medical devices including cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators. Innovators will surely develop other battery-operated medical devices as medical practitioners' understanding of human anatomy and electrophysiology continues to improve.
Batteries for permanently implantable medical devices have very strict requirements. Such batteries should have very long useful lives, thereby allowing long periods between implantation and surgical replacement. The batteries should therefore be capable of high total power output, and have very low self-discharge rates.
Some devices require very high power output rates. For example, an implantable cardiac defibrillator must charge its capacitor and deliver an electrical charge to reestablish the normal rhythm of a beating human heart, preferably within a very few seconds. A battery for such a device must provide a very high energy-output rate to charge the capacitor as quickly as possible.
Batteries intended for permanent implantation in a human patient must be highly reliable over a long time. All internal components must be robust and reliable, and the connections between them stable and secure. Battery failure in an implantable medical device means surgical replacement in the best case. Battery failure at a critical moment can cause the patient's death.
An implantable device must be compatible with the patient's own internal body chemistry. In devices where the body or bodily fluids may contact the battery, the exterior of the battery must be of sufficiently biocompatible materials. The battery must include highly reliable sealing components, moreover, to isolate the components inside the battery and to insure that no battery electrolyte leaks out of the external case that encloses and contains the electrodes.
Some newer batteries include a remote recharging capability. These batteries can be recharged by a charging device disposed a short distance away from the battery. This is of course highly advantageous in an implantable medical device, because the battery can be recharged without invasive surgery to the patient's body.
It is advantageous for any battery, as with any manufactured article, for the manufacture and assembly to be made as simply, reliably, and cheaply as possible. The battery should include as few parts as are reasonably necessary, and those parts should be easy and quick to assemble.
There is a substantial and increasing need for new batteries, and for related manufacturing methods, that will provide batteries having long lives, high power output rates, and high total energy delivery. The batteries should be reliable and safe for permanent human implantation. Where appropriate, the construction of the battery should lend itself readily to remote recharging according to known and future methods. Finally, it would be advantageous if such batteries were amenable to inexpensive and simple manufacture without unduly compromising either the operating capabilities or the long-term reliability of the battery.
Batteries incorporating the construction of this invention will have these characteristics to greater and lesser extents and in different combinations according to the particular requirements of the uses for which those batteries are designed.
The invention provides electrical storage battery assemblies and related methods for assembling such batteries. Batteries incorporating the invention will frequently include electrode assemblies comprising positive and negative electrode sheets that are physically separated by a separator sheet. These sheets may be sandwiched together and wrapped around a central mandrel to provide a spiral sandwich electrode assembly.
In some embodiments the central mandrel will include spring arms that provide spring tension to hold the spiral sandwich electrode assembly under tension, helping to ensure uniformity in the electrode sheets, and thereby helping to ensure that the assembled battery will function reliably and predictably.
The battery's electrode assembly is housed inside a case. In preferred embodiments, the case includes a case housing open at two ends and covers closing the two openings after the electrode assembly has been installed inside the case housing.
The central mandrel of the electrode assembly may be placed into direct electrical contact with one of the electrode sheets and then connected to a first battery terminal that passes through the case. The connection between the central mandrel and the first battery terminal may be provided through an electrically conductive projecting member formed integral with or otherwise in electrical contact with the central mandrel. In a preferred embodiment, the projecting member includes a tab that is suitable for welding to the first battery terminal.
The other electrode, the one not placed into electrical contact with the first battery terminal, may be placed into electrical contact with the case. This electrical contact may be established, e.g., by welding an electrically conducting tab member between that electrode and the case housing. In some embodiments, a second battery terminal can be provided and placed in electrical contact with the case. The second battery terminal can be formed onto a fill plug, which can be installed into an opening in the case to seal the case after the battery assembly has been filled with an electrolyte fluid.
Where a projecting member is used to connect one of the electrodes to the first battery terminal, a first insulator may be positioned between the electrode assembly and the projecting member to guard against short circuits in the battery. A second insulator can be used between the projecting member and the case. Where the case is electrically connected to one of the electrodes, the other electrode in the electrode assembly should be electrically isolated from the case by a third insulator.
The electrode assembly in this battery comprises positive and negative electrode sheets sandwiched together with a separator sheet between them. The separator sheet has openings in it that allow an electrolyte to permeate between the positive and negative electrode sheets. The separator sheet thus physically separates the two electrode sheets while allowing electric current to flow between them. An electrode assembly may include several sheets of each type in a multiple-electrode sandwich. The preferred embodiment, however, includes only a single sheet of each type, sandwiched together and wrapped around a central mandrel. Each electrode is generally formed of a sheet of substrate coated with an active material.
To assemble the battery, one first fits the mandrel 20 onto wrapping machinery (not shown). The wrapping machinery wraps the electrode sandwich sheet—comprising at least one each of a positive electrode sheet, a negative electrode sheet, and an intervening separator sheet—around the mandrel to form the wrapped spiral sandwich electrode jellyroll. The mandrel thus serves as a central support member for the spiral sandwich electrode member. The electrode sandwich should be wrapped onto the mandrel with the negative electrode sheet on the inner side in direct contact with the mandrel. The mandrel will eventually be connected to the negative terminal of the battery.
For the spring configuration of the mandrel 20, as the electrode sheet is wrapped onto the mandrel 20, the two spring arms 23 are held flat against the mandrel main body 24. Spring tension arises in the spring arms from the elasticity of the mandrel material. This spring tension helps to hold the flexible electrode sheet material taut as it is wrapped around the mandrel. This helps to ensure uniform and predictable wrapping, which is important to the proper and reliable functioning of the assembled battery. The spring arms continue to provide tension on the electrode and separator sheet materials during the life of the battery, keeping them in contact while they undergo expansion and contraction that occurs with cycling of the battery.
The battery is assembled and contained inside a case 10 (see
The case housing includes planar walls 40, which are parallel to one another with rounded walls 42 serving as transition structure between the two planar walls. An internal volume is defined inside the case housing between the planar walls and the open first and second ends. Battery components are assembled inside this internal volume in the case housing. Note that while case housing 33 is described above as having parallel planar walls with rounded walls transitioning between them, the case housing is not limited to that shape, and may be cylindrical, cubic, or other shapes.
Referring again to
A perspective view of the case bottom 48 is provided in
Referring again to
Referring again to
A perspective view of the cover insulator 75 is provided in
Although the projecting arm in the illustrated embodiment is formed integrally with the rest of the mandrel, other embodiments may include other projecting arms or other structure for connecting the central mandrel to one of the electrodes. Such alternative structures may be formed integrally with the central mandrel, or they may be connected to the mandrel by any means that provides a reliable electrical connection between the central mandrel and the battery terminal. The projecting arm 25 is flexible, but is preferably not excessively springy to avoid creating residual stress in the battery when the cover is closed.
When the cover assembly 53 is pressed down against the top of the case housing 33, the projecting arm 25 is compressed and sandwiched between the top insulator 73 and the cover insulator 75. The negatively charged projecting arm is thus electrically isolated from both the positive electrode of the rolled electrode assembly 18 (see
After the cover assembly 53 is sealed in place, the assembled battery 5 is filled with an appropriate electrolyte through the electrolyte fill hole provided by the second case lid opening 70. When sufficient electrolyte has been filled into the battery, the electrolyte fill hole is sealed by the introduction of a fill hole plug 82 into the second opening 70 in the case lid 55. The fill hole plug 82 preferably is slightly tapered for ease of insertion into opening 70.
The fill hole plug, which is depicted in
Specific embodiments of battery assemblies and related methods for manufacturing them have been described in considerable detail above. Those of skill in the art may devise additions, improvements, and modifications to these embodiments and methods. For example, the invention has been described for a configuration having a positive case and fill plug terminal, and a negative electrode coupled to the mandrel. The polarities of all of the components may be reversed, with appropriate changes to the materials, as would be clear to one skilled in the art. The scope of the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The scope of the invention should be judged instead by reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which those claims are legally entitled.
Tsukamoto, Hisashi, Szyszkowski, Andrew, Kishiyama, Clay
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